Much has been made concerning Perot's entry into the 1992 presidential debates. Some feel his presence enabled him to garner nearly 20 million votes. Do you think third party presidential candidates should be allowed to participate in the debates and if so, what criteria would you set? Right now the criteria is that a third party candidate must draw at least 15% in the national polls.
I support participation by third parties in the presidential debates if they can draw at least 10% in the national polls.
I would normally welcome a viable third party to join in. However, who was the last viable 3rd party candidate? I loved Perot until he nutted up (it was sad to see him try to blame Bush Sr for conspiring against his family). John Anderson ran an excellent third party candidacy against Reagan/Carter in 1980. (although both were merely Republicans who couldn't get their own parties nomination)
I'm not sure Perot is or was ever a Republican. As a matter of fact, he despised Bush 41. Anderson ran as an independent, not third party, although he did try to form a third party (National Unity Party) that had him on the ballot in '84 in a few states like Kentucky. Four years later, the NUP was defunct and Anderson was head of Independents for Mondale-Ferraro.
Jimmy, my favorite Republican,hey Here is a historian's take on the third party debate. Yes, absoulutely. Remember the Republican Party was a third party in 1854 when it started. We learned much from the Free-Soil,Greenback,Populists( Remember W.J. Bryan...God rest his soul) , the Bull Moose Party( Jimmy your man TR) and others. It is a great outlay for those disenchanted with the top two parties.
Followup, This was a debate in my 20 th Century class this week at A&M. The consensus was that most third party candidates ( save John Anderson...I had to defend him in class) are a little kookie. We tracked them in each election that the third party had a significant number of polling votes and found the statement to be true. Believe it or not......
I actually voted for Anderson before I voted against him! Seriously, I voted for him in '80. If I had it to do all over again, I'd vote Carter. If I had 2000 to do all over I'd vote GWB. Every other vote, Dems., GOP, Third Party, I'd still do the same. Voted for Nixon in '72 Carter in '76 Anderson in '80 Mondale in '84 Kenoyer (Socialist Party USA) in '88 Perot in '92 Browne (Libertarian) in '96 Browne in '00 GWB in '04 Looks politically schizophrenic, I know. But, I am a moderate with left- and right-leaning views. Privatization of SS, strong national security, anti-abortion, prayer in school, abolish the IRS, etc., on the right Oppose capital punishment, environmental protection, no PACS or lobbyists, equity of govenment resources in criminal trials, civil unions for gays, etc., on the left. Probably most Americans are moderates or centrists.
Well - we agree on one thing: getting rid of the IRS. I would like a flat tax - or better yet, national sales tax with no deductions allowed. You buy, you pay. You don't buy, you don't pay. It's that simple. Just think how much we would save by downsizing the Treasury Dept. (not to think how much we would save by not having to pay CPA's to do our taxes) I voted for Browne in 00. I have never liked either Bush, but thought Gore was a bit of a bore.
